SYNTHESIS OF THE CLINOPYROXENES JOIN CAMGSI2O6-NAALSI2O6 FOR JEWELRY

Clinopyroxenes of the join CaMgSi2O6(diopside)-NaAlSi2O6 (jadeite) were synthesized in the temperature range 800-1900 degrees C and under varying pressure, 10-55 kbar. The stability regions of various compositions of diopside-jadeite have been established experimentally using different compositions of glass materials: stoichiometric composition NaAlSi2O6, 0.1CaMgSi(2)O(6)-0.9NaAlSi(2)O(6), 0.2CaMgSi(2)O(6)0.8NaAlSi(2)O(6), 0.3CaMgSi(2)O(6)-0.7NaAlSi(2)O(6), and 0.4CaMgSi(2)O(6)-0.6NaAlSi(2)O(6). Unit cell parameters of synthetic clinopyroxenes with the above compositions were determined. The physical properties, such as hardness, toughness, density, and refractive index, etc., were also measured. The results show that synthetic clinopyroxenes have the same properties as the natural one. The gem quality of diopside-jadeite clinopyroxenes was achieved by synthesised on the basis of the above experiments. Various colouring agents, such as Cr2O3, Co2O3, NiO2, Fe2O3, TiO2, MnO, CuO, and their combinations, FeO-Cr2O3, etc., were added to obtain the different colours of gem. In addition, small amounts of the rare-earth oxides, such as CeO2, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Dy2O3, Eu2O3, Er2O3, Pr6O11, Lu2O3 and CuO-Eu2O3, Co2O3Nd2O3, etc., were also added to produce fluorescent clinopyroxenes for jewellery.

THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL-PROPERTIES OF SYNTHETIC AND NATURAL JADEITE FOR JEWELRY

Jadeite was synthesized from its glass of stoichiometric composition NaAlSi2O6, and a colouring agent Cr2O3 (0.3-0.6 wt%) was added to achieve the emerald colour. The conditions employed were a pressure range of 3.0-5.0 GPa and a temperature range of 1150